What's your religion and why?

[lukeskywalker1]

And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary...." (Matthew 1:16)

 

"And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being ... the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli..."(Luke 3:23)

 

Was J.C.'s paternal grandfather Jacob or Heli? Or how about :

 

"...that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He [Jesus] shall be called a Nazarene." (Matthew 2:23)

 

 

 

Interesting... Anyways, my bible is sort of a study bible.. so i looked it up, and right after it mentioned that Joseph was the son of Heli, it had a little n Which mean "note" so i looked at the bottom of the page, and it says "Son" in the jewish lists of ancestors can sometimes mean grandson or more distant relative.

 

And about the Nazarine thing, A Nazarene is a person from Nazareth, a name probably meaning "branch" If you look at Isaiah Chapter 11 verse 1 it says:

 

"A new branch will grow

from a stump of a tree;

so a new king will come

from the family of Jesse."

 

(NCV BIBLE)

 

Jesse was the father of David, and Jesus was a descendant of David.

 

I believe everyone should just stfu, believe what they want to believe and keep it to themselves UNLESS someone asks for their opinion. But this is just my opinion. Of course no one will listen And BTW just to make it clear, I'm not pissed off. I was the one asking the questions in the first place. I'm just talking about generally.

 

Well, if you post anything, anywhere, and it has something about religion in it, or something to do with religion, it will turn out like this. Nice topic Look at the "Why is Ok to Bash Christianity" thread.. that things huge.. and its been around since the summer.

[Kurgan]

Unless it's being confused with the Nazerite vows that Jewish men could take... (Sampson is an example), not cutting their hair, avoiding intoxicants, and not touching dead things (IIRC).

 

Of course Sampson broke all the rules except for cutting his hair, and when he finally broke that one, that's when God took away his super strength. ; p

[Homuncul]

Well, if you post anything, anywhere, and it has something about religion in it, or something to do with religion, it will turn out like this. Nice topic Look at the "Why is Ok to Bash Christianity" thread.. that things huge.. and its been around since the summer.

 

And I remember "History of the Universe" thread. It was bigger I think, and much more productive than this or "christianity bashing" thread

[Elijah]

I believe that thread was close? I was involved in that one if I'm not mistaken... it became an evolution vs creation thread.

[Homuncul]

"Everything that has a beginning has an end"

 

And it was all evolution/creation flaming thread. I took a lot of interesting things from it. Can't say such thing about this thread though. It's becoming boring to discuss religion at all. Now I mostly look through the posts and try to find something to interest me...

[griff38]

Originally posted by Homuncul

Took Buddhism recently. I love life, and those bastards from the Swamp

 

Life is for faith and love, for humans can't be without them, and those who say otherwise only lie to themselves.

 

 

 

Former Christian.

 

 

I disagree about the faith thing. But use the word hope in it's place and I agree.

[MennoniteHobbit]

Well, as for me, I am in the middle of choosing between two religions. Christianity of Buddhism.

btw, Buddhism is probably the most pure religion, cuz Buddha is not a god, he's just a real person that understood life and death, so that we can live life to its fullest extent.

btw, all u atheists, i wuld kindly suggest u to get a religion. And don't tell me I should, cuz I'll tell u why if u want. U don't wanna die and end up not having picked a religion. U'll regret it.

[ShockV1.89]

Mennonite Hobbit, what you're hinting at is called Pascals Wager. Essentially the idea is "If you believe in God and are right, you win. If you believe in God and are wrong, you lose nothing. If you don't believe in God and are right, you win and lose nothing. If you don't believe in God and you are wrong, you're screwed."

 

That's the annotated version. Of course, it doesn't take into account the idea that belief is not something that can be forced. I can't force myself to believe that the South African Bobsled team is going to sweep the Winter Olympics any more than I believe for sure in a God. I can try as hard as I want to have faith in the Bobsled team, but in the end, I look at it and say "Sorry, I still don't think you'll win."

 

Pascals Wager has been shot down in flames more time than I care to repeat.

[Datheus]

Well, there is the issue that you can't force belief. But I think there's a bigger problem with it.

 

The fact of the matter is, it isn't a binary choice. You can be so many things other than Christian or Athiest. If you're a Christian and you're "wrong" in the end does not necessarily mean that there is not a god. What about Jehova? Allah? There can be an intelligent creator and still have XYZ faith be wrong.

 

I see that as the real glaring issue in Pascals Wager.

[ShockV1.89]

Yes, I'd have to agree with that.

 

Here's a good website on Pascals Wager. It details your argument, as well as mine, and several others. http://www.abarnett.demon.co.uk/atheism/wager.html

[MennoniteHobbit]

Originally posted by ShockV1.89

Mennonite Hobbit, what you're hinting at is called Pascals Wager. Essentially the idea is "If you believe in God and are right, you win. If you believe in God and are wrong, you lose nothing. If you don't believe in God and are right, you win and lose nothing. If you don't believe in God and you are wrong, you're screwed."

 

That's the annotated version. Of course, it doesn't take into account the idea that belief is not something that can be forced. I can't force myself to believe that the South African Bobsled team is going to sweep the Winter Olympics any more than I believe for sure in a God. I can try as hard as I want to have faith in the Bobsled team, but in the end, I look at it and say "Sorry, I still don't think you'll win."

 

Pascals Wager has been shot down in flames more time than I care to repeat.

 

Hey Shock, actually I wasn't hinting that at all. I didn't even know what Pascals Wager was until now. But anyway, I never hinted anything like that. I was just stating that u don't wanna go to Hell if u don't believe in God, but if u don't believe in God u gotta pick somethin else. Besides, I would never force a religion upon someone else, ever. It's there choice no matter what.

[Tyrion]

Wouldnt God just realize that you are worshiping him only to cover your ass in the afterlife? I imagine that the reason why you would worship god would be for fulfillment and truth, not to make sure you are happy when you die.

[MennoniteHobbit]

Originally posted by Tyrion

Wouldnt God just realize that you are worshiping him only to cover your ass in the afterlife? I imagine that the reason why you would worship god would be for fulfillment and truth, not to make sure you are happy when you die.

 

I realize that, I'm just saying for others who don't care about religion, who just want cover 4 their @$$es, then yes, that religion would be the choice for them, even though their reasons are dissolute.

[ET Warrior]

But if God is omniscient and all knowing, then he will KNOW we're just bull****ting when we say we believe in him, and therefore we're going to hell anyways.

 

just "picking a religion" isn't going to do ANYTHING if you dont' actually believe in what you picked. Unless of course God is just an egotistical maniac who LOVES to have people say nice things about him, even if they dont mean it.

[ShockV1.89]

Originally posted by ET Warrior

Unless of course God is just an egotistical maniac who LOVES to have people say nice things about him, even if they dont mean it.

0

 

You know, from the way some people tell it, I'd almost think that the God they're talking about is exactly like that.

[MennoniteHobbit]

Originally posted by ShockV1.89

0

 

You know, from the way some people tell it, I'd almost think that the God they're talking about is exactly like that.

 

I know that God is watching over every single one of us. OF COURSE he knows if we are a true believer of him. It's just a matter of convincing ourselves, "Do we really, truly believe in God and all He does, or are we really fooling ourselves?"

 

Well, a fraction of people who believe in God don't actually know why the heck they believe in Him. Some might be scared (I don't know for sure, just saying sumpin) of not believing in him. So, the true people, who actually know the God they believe in, are the ones who do NOT think that the God they believe in (He's the one and only) is egotistical and power-hungry. Man, just thinking of people who think that God is that makes me sick. UGH. I'm sayin like b4, the dissolute people who just want their @$$es covered are the ones who are majorly fooling themselves. If they feel satisfied, why should I care? Their problem, not mine. I already have ENOUGH problems trying to choose and truly believe (yes, not pick) a religion.

[ET Warrior]

but you just TOLD us that we better pick one for ourselves so we dont get damned to hell for all eternity. You've contradicted yourself there mate.

 

 

Now here's to why I think God is egotistical. Supposedly God is a super benevolent being, full of unbounding care and love for all his creatures. If such is the case, WHY does he insist that we worship him and thank him for EVERYTHING ALL the time. Wouldn't one, "Hey God, thanks for everything" at some point in our lives be enough to satisfy him?

 

"No, you didn't devote your life to me, instead you spent all your time developing technologies and medicines and whatnot to improve the quality of life of your fellow human beings. I damn thee to hell!"

[Alegis]

Belief is something very complex. Religions where there to answer the old questions "Who the hell am i?" and "Where do we come from?" Just like the Greek who had their tales to explain every special nature appearance, different people thought a different god was above them.

 

It became more than just explaining from where everything comes, you got the "take care of each other because there is an all seeing police man above you"

 

With the progress in sience etc atm we all grew in knowledge about the universe. "God? If there is a God let him help me whenever I need him"

 

We don't live in fear anymore, fear for god. Fear which made the people worship him and do everything what the church said

 

Do I really belief in God? No. Do I believe in the wisdom Jesus said in the bible about caring for each other? Yes. Do I belief Jesus exsisted? No. Do I follow the church and their motives? Absolutely not

[ET Warrior]

Originally posted by Alegis Gensan

Do I belief Jesus exsisted? No.

 

Actually, I could be wrong, but I do believe there is evidence or whatnot that Jesus was an actual person.

 

Now was he the son of God? Doubtful....but I do think he existed.

[Tyrion]

I'm pretty sure Jesus was real. He probably was a great leader, and well as a morally good person. When he was executed,though, his followers probably transformed him into a matyr: the son of God.

 

Infact, for anyone who wants to read up on Christanity conspiraces, you should read The Da Vinchi Code. It's pretty good, and really makes you wonder who's telling the truth.(Mostly Fictional though, but it does talk about the Priori of Sion and Opus Dei, which are real organizations if I remember correctly).

[SkinWalker]

The only evidence of the existance of Jesus Christ is in the bible. There is no artifactual or epigraphical evidence.

 

In short, Jesus is a circular argument and relies on biblical authenticity.

 

One has to wonder why, if he was so significant, that there isn't independent record of his existence.

[_PerfectAgent_]

Actually, Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian recorded the existence of Jesus. (Antiquities, XVIII, III)

 

Also, Cornelius Tacitus (in A.D. 1120) was a Roman historian who wrote about the reign of emperor Nero. He mentioned Jesus and the existence of Christians in Rome. (Annals, XV, 44)

 

Another reference to Jesus was in the book, Life of Claudius, written by another Roman historian, Seutonius.

[Ray Jones]

err..

 

i "believe" that nothing is as steady as change. ..

 

there.. see? .. proven.

 

 

muhawhaw.

 

 

 

 

[rccar328]

I, as many of you know, am a Christian. There are many topics in this thread I want to respond to, so here goes:

 

First, Catholicism is a form of Christianity. Many Christians say that it isn't because of various doctrinal differences, but at the most basic level (belief in God and that Jesus is the Christ), Catholics are Christians. The assumption by many Protestants that Catholics are not Christians basically amounts to nothing more than doctrinal bickering.

 

Second, there is a common misconception that Christianity is all about "forcing your religion on others." This is perpetrated by Christians who don't truly understand their religion. When it gets right down to it, Christianity is all about personal choice. We can choose God, or we can choose sin. Christianity is pro-choice, but one choice is right while the other is wrong. As far as legislating a ban on homosexual marriage, I believe that, quite simply, a moral line has to be drawn somewhere, and this seems to be the right place for it.

 

I thought for a long, long time about what kind of argument I could come up with in support of gay marriage without mentioning God. I couldn't do it, but a friend of mine gave me a new perspective on the issue:

Without God, there is no argument against gay marriage.

 

Instantly, now, people assume that banning gay marriage the forcing of Christian values upon the masses. But think about our most fundamental laws - if we can allow gay marriage, what keeps us from allowing bigamy, or polygamy, or any of a number of other acts.

 

As the moral line keeps moving closer to moral relativism, eventually, our most basic laws (laws against murder, rape, assault, theft, etc.) will have no meaning because they, too, are based on Christian morals.

 

We have seen over the course of the years, black-and-white moral values blend into an ever-growing grey area. When every behavior falls into a grey area, though, moral values have no meaning, and the laws based on those values become meaningless, as well.

I know that many of you probably disagree with my perspective, but there it is.

 

 

Personally, I believe that it is wrong to arbitrarily condemn someone because, "you're going to Hell." Once again, it gets down to personal choice. The Bible says that, “all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God” (Romans 3:23). What this means is that I have sinned as much as any other person, and have no right to condemn others for their choices. I can try to persuade them to choose differently, but to arbitrarily condemn others goes against the basic precepts of Christian love and hope.

 

As far as taking the faith of our parents, that works for a while, but there comes a point in every person’s life where they choose what to believe. Those of you who say that you are “forced” into a religion aren’t being forced to believe, you’re only being forced to attend a certain church or school. It’s still your choice whether to believe in that faith or not.

 

a VERY strange thing for all you Christians out there. First, look at any religion at all that isn't your own. Then think about it. AHHA! Yea, you think its retarded and couldn't possibly believe in it. Yeah, that's the feeling.

 

Not necessarily. When I first entered college, I wasn’t sure what I believed in, and decided to give Buddhism a try. I studied up on it, found out what it was all about, and then decided that I didn’t believe in it. After a while, I took up my Christian faith again, which was reinforced by several events that took place in my life.

 

The long and the short of it is that Christianity is a religion in which our loving omnipotent creator gave us the freedom to choose which path to take. People condemn the Christian religion because there is a right path and a wrong path, and because many people (as happens in a lot of religions) twist Christianity to fit into their own preconceived notions or biases. These people are quite common, and they give Christianity a bad name.

[lukeiamyourdad]

Buddhism- Buddhism is a philosophy, not a religion(although a LOT of people transform it into a religion). You don't believe in anything, you just follow a certain code.

 

Gay marriages- There's a huge difference between a marriage and raping people. If you can't see that..well...

 

Laws against theft, raping, murder are not based on Christian values, they're universal values common in every culture.

 

But I do agree about the few fundamentalists who give Christianity a bad name. I had a guy telling i would go to Hell if I wouldn't convert to Christianity...if that's not forcing people sheesh...

 

History didn't help Christianity neither(but then again, Islam isn't better here). Lots of killing due to "infidels", campaigns of mass conversion by the Spanish in the Americas, the Salem witch trials, the Crusades...of course their kind of conversion would be the brutal one. Unless you can consider having a sword on your neck and being asked if you believe in Christianity a very gentle action.